Parallel Evolution: Applying Biological Evolutionary Mechanisms to the
Evolution of Culture as Depicted in Jeff Chang’s
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
Stephanie Brennan
In the field of biology every organism is thought to
posses its own specific evolutionary pathway that is
able, when analyzed, to document the events
leading up to and the appearance of every
morphological and molecular characteristic unique
to that species. The occurrence of evolution is fact;
it is the specific mechanism of evolution that is so
frequently the topic of debate. Thus, evolutionary
theory is a structure of ideas that explains and
interprets the facts of evolution while relating them
to the organization and operation of the natural
world.
come into being?”
These questions, altered
negligibly, are also necessary inquisitions in the
study of cultural evolution. When applied to
cultural evolution they ask, “How does culture
change through time in response to modifications in
its environment? And “How do new developments
in culture come about?”
The means of answering the questions pertaining
to evolutionary biology may also be applied in
analyzing cultural evolution. In order to create a
more thorough analogy between biological and
cultural evolution one should first view society as a
living, breathing organism with an infinite number
of lives. Society is constantly changing, each day,
each year, and each subsequent period of time alters
the development of the societal self. And what is
the “societal self”? It is that which not only
encompasses human activities, but also gives those
activities significance and meaning –it is culture.
The mechanisms and components of evolution
are many, though by far the most common is
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution via natural
selection.
Darwin developed his model of
evolutionary change based upon previous ideas,
specifically the theory of Uniformitarianism
developed by Sir Charles Lyell, which suggests,
“the present is the key to the past.” Darwin’s theory
of natural selection has been used in the
development of other important models of evolution
such as descent with modification and the theory of
punctuated equilibrium developed by Niles
Eldredge and Stephen J. Gould.
Now consider the role of the individual person in
society and the impact of each person on the growth
and development of culture. To continue the
analogy of society and culture as a living, breathing
organism one can consider individual persons as
DNA, more specifically, as the nucleotide bases A,
T, G, and C that comprise the genetic make up of
every organism. If each individual corresponds to a
specific base pair, then a group of individuals, such
as a specific geographical community, can be
viewed as a gene. In this way, each community of
individuals contributes certain customs and traits
that influence the growth and evolution of culture
just as each gene that comprises an organism’s
genetic make up controls the expression of certain
traits within the whole of the organism, thus
affecting the biological evolution of the organism.
Though developed for the study of biological
evolution, many methods of evolutionary change, as
well as observed patterns of evolutionary change
within populations, are applicable as models for the
evolution of culture within a society. Before
applying the methods of biological evolution to
situations of cultural change it is first important to
recognize that the two basic questions evolutionary
biologists ask when studying the evolution of a
population are transposable to the questions one
would ask when preparing to study the evolution of
culture.
Using this analogy of society as a living
organism one is able to use specific examples of
evolutionary mechanisms and models as well as
specific examples of cultural evolution to depict the
application of biological evolutionary models to the
The two important questions asked by
evolutionary biologists are: “How do populations
change through time in response to modifications in
their environments?” And “How do new species
7
evolution of culture. The two mechanisms of
biological evolution that are most applicable in this
study of cultural evolution are Darwin’s theory of
natural selection and Niles Eldredge and Stephen J.
Gould’s mechanism of punctuated equilibrium. The
applicability of descent with modification,
Uniformitarianism, and gene flow as mechanisms of
biological evolution successfully applied to cultural
evolution will also be developed in relation to the
two main models of evolution being studied.
In order to fully and succinctly support the
application of the models and mechanisms of
biological evolution to cultural evolution, focus will
be placed on a single evolving culture: the evolution
of hip-hop culture in the United States of America.
Evidence of cultural evolution will be
predominantly drawn from Jeff Chang’s work Can’t
Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop
Generation. To direct this endeavor in a more
methodical approach, rather than rushing hastily
toward comparisons and examples, it is essential to
first look in more detail at the processes and
theories of biological evolution.
The very nature of this study of growth and
change suggests that this examination of the
specific methods and forms of biological evolution
that will later be applied to the evolution of culture
should proceed, as all periods of growth do,
chronologically. In this case, the first significant
mode of biological evolution that will be addressed
is the doctrine of Uniformitarianism that was first
introduced into the scientific field in 1785 by James
Hutton in his work Theory of the Earth and later
expounded upon and popularized by Sir Charles
Lyell in 1830. The principle of Uniformitarianism
may be best recognized by its succinct speculation
that “the present is the key to past.” This doctrine
was originally created in response to observations
made of geological processes which indicate that
the current geological processes are the same as
those processes that occurred millions of years ago,
thus implying that present processes are able to
explain past events.
Though Uniformitarianism has been
virtually disproved by modern scientists, it is
important to acknowledge the great contribution
Uniformitarianism made to the study of biological
evolution.
What resides at the base of
Uniformitarianism’s claims is the principle of
gradualism –the theory that change occurs through
the accumulation of slight modifications over a
period of generations. Another important tenet of
gradualism is that every individual is the same
species as its parents, thus no definite line of
separation may be made between old species and
new species. Therefore gradualism suggests that a
species is not an unchanging type and that it is a
population and not an individual that evolves.
These tenets of gradualism, that evolution occurs
over long periods of time and that it is the
population not the individual that is evolving
permeate all of evolutionary theory, whether in
contrast to more modern principles of development,
or as building blocks for other mechanisms of
evolution; gradualism’s importance in the field of
evolutionary biology is undeniable.
The principles of Uniformitarianism, and
thus gradualism as well, played a significant role in
the development of what is likely the most well
known theory of evolution: evolution by means of
natural selection. The theory of evolution through
natural selection is the result of years of study by
the scientist Charles Darwin who is largely
recognized for placing the theory of evolution
within public domain. It was the publishing of
Darwin’s tome The Origin of the Species by Means
of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of
Favourable Races in the Struggle for Life in 1859
that first made evolution the target of many moral
and ethical public debates. Darwin was influenced
by the work of Sir Charles Lyell which led to
Darwin’s formulation of the evolutionary process of
descent with modification, a variation on
Uniformitarianism’s slogan “the present is the key
to the past.”
Darwin remained loyal to the tenets of
gradualism in generating his mechanism of
evolution, this tie between gradualism and
Darwinism is most notable is his stipulation that
evolution occurs by descent with modification.
Darwin states that all life shares a common ancestor
and that through the process of descent with
modification results the apparent biodiversity of all
living things. Drawing from the principles of
gradualism, descent with modification holds that the
diversity of life results from slight changes and
modifications within a population that over an
extended period of time lead to the diversification
8
of a population. The mechanism that Darwin
employs to elucidate the process of descent with
modification is the theory of natural selection. In
his proposed model for evolution Darwin again
draws from gradualism to explain his mechanism of
evolution, citing gradual change as the origin of
evolution by natural selection.
To succinctly state Darwin’s theory of
evolution through natural selection one would say
that heritable traits that lead to survival and
reproduction will spread in a population. To further
develop this idea it is important to recognize the
four postulates of natural selection: that individuals
within populations vary, that variation among
individuals is passed, in part, from parent to
offspring, that some individuals are more successful
at surviving and reproducing than others, and that
survival and reproduction are not random, the traits
that those individuals carry will increase in
frequency.
Natural selection is a significant
mechanism of evolutionary change because it is the
basis for the evolution of the ways in which an
organism’s traits adapt in response to the
surrounding environment.
Natural selection’s
unique ability to lead to adaptive divergence of
populations explains the appearance of myriad
species rather than just one species with all positive
traits.
In addition to natural selection, other
mechanisms of evolutionary change significant in
the study of cultural evolution are mutation,
migration, and genetic drift.
Each of these
mechanisms helps explain the differences in
patterns of genetic variation, and more importantly,
each of these mechanisms offers insight into the
occurrence of genetic variation across specific
geographic ranges. The mechanisms elucidating
genetic variation are important in the application of
genetic variability to specific locations.
Of
particular importance in the application of the
models of biological evolution to cultural evolution,
particularly concerning geographic location is the
mechanism of migration; and particularly
significant in the mechanism of migration is the role
of gene flow. Gene flow by definition is the change
in gene frequencies due to the movement of
individuals or gametes from one population to
another. Important evolutionary consequences of
gene flow include its role as a homogenizing force,
a creative force, as well as a constraining force.
As a homogenizing force, gene flow
accounts for the blending of separate populations:
explaining the disappearance of one species and the
apparent increase in size of another geographically
close population. Populations may be homogenized
in the assertion of dominance by one population
over another as well as the subsequent inbreeding of
two separate populations. As a creative force, gene
flow allows new combinations of traits to be acted
upon by natural selection, thus giving rise to new
adaptations. Finally, as a constraining force, gene
flow is capable of hindering populations from
adapting quickly to their local environment due to
limited diversity within the population.
Progressing from the advent of evolutionary
theory in the 1700s that is predominantly based
upon visual observations and years of single species
study, to the modern study of the role of genetics in
the evolution of a population, places this
examination of biological evolution’s main models
and mechanisms at the foot of one of the more
controversial theories of evolution, punctuated
equilibrium. The theory of punctuated equilibrium
first appeared in 1972 as a result of a critique on the
Darwinian model of evolution through natural
selection by two scientists, Niles Eldredge and
Stephen Jay Gould.
Punctuated equilibrium
suggests that evolution occurs quickly with long
periods of little change in between. These long
periods of little change are referred to as
“equilibria” which Eldredge and Gould suggest are
punctuated by brief phases of evolution, thus giving
the theory its name: punctuated equilibrium.
The theory of punctuated equilibrium as a
mechanism for biological evolution emphasizes the
power of the majority in creating change within a
population. Gould writes in his work The Panda’s
Thumb, that "Large, stable central populations exert
a strong homogenizing influence [on the gene pool].
New and favorable mutations are diluted by the
sheer bulk of the population through which they
must spread. [...] But in small, peripherally isolated
groups that are cut off from their parental stock ...
selective pressures are usually intense because
peripheries mark the edge of ecological tolerance
for ancestral forms. Favorable variations spread
quickly” (Gould 183-184). Gould’s emphasis on
9
the quick rate of evolution via the mechanism of
punctuated equilibrium would appear to refute
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection
which heavily incorporates the principle of
gradualism mentioned earlier. However, rather than
opposing gradualism, punctuated equilibrium
should be viewed as a form of gradualism.
Punctuated equilibrium appears to deviate
from the tenets proposed by gradualism because of
its emphasis on periods of rapid evolution.
However, though the changes are thought to be
occurring comparatively quickly, they are still
happening gradually with no significant changes
from one generation to the next. Gould remarks
that the theory of punctuated equilibrium does not
counter gradualism, but instead introduces the ideas
of catastrophism and stasis to the theory. It is
important to understand that gradualism and
punctuated equilibrium are not in contradiction of
each other, but are instead variations on the same
theme. In fact, the relationship between gradualism,
including Darwinian evolution, and the theory of
punctuated equilibrium, particularly the addition of
the ideas of catastrophism and stasis, is essential in
the understanding of the application of the
mechanisms of biological evolution to the evolution
of culture.
Now, understanding the prevalent models
and mechanisms of evolutionary biology, including
their relationship to one another and the order in
which they were first introduced, one is able to
study the applicability of these theories to a new
subject, the case of cultural evolution, in hopes of
successfully determining a model for cultural
evolution that will aid in explaining the patterns and
methods in which culture changes over time.
Examples of cultural growth and change will be
drawn from the hip-hop culture of the past thirty to
forty to years and will be explained using the
information on biological evolution and its patterns
and mechanisms that was presented in the previous
paragraphs. In this way a mechanism may be
developed to help elucidate the seemingly volatile
and baffling nature of the living, breathing organism
known as culture.
First it is beneficial to utilize the earliest
doctrine of biological evolution, Uniformitarianism.
By examining the earliest principles and
mechanisms comprising the study of evolutionary
biology one is able to observe the building blocks of
evolutionary theory. In applying these earlier
models of biological evolution to the development
and change of culture one is able to create a stable
foundation for the mechanism of cultural evolution.
In
examining
the
principles
of
Uniformitarianism in biological evolution it is
suggested that change occurs uniformly over an
extended period of time, thus suggesting that the
growth and changes viewed in the present time
closely resemble the same methods of growth and
change that were in operation in the past. Applying
this principle of evolution to a cultural scenario one
would expect a relatively static culture in which
younger generations do not deviate significantly
from the cultural norms of the older generation. An
example of this is depicted in Chang’s Can’t Stop
Won’t Stop in which rapper Ice Cube remarks in an
interview with Angela Davis that, “Since the sixties,
and even before that, we’ve moved. But we still
ain’t gained. We are still in the same situation as
before, as far as getting a piece of the rock is
concerned” (Chang 345). In this scenario Davis and
Cube represent two generations within hip-hop
culture, Davis, an activist and Black Panther party
member in the sixties, is a member of the older
generation and Cube is a member of the younger
generation. Cube refers to previous generations,
specifically targeting the sixties, and remarks that
though things have changed over time, there is no
significant difference between his generation and
Davis’ generation. This situation is representative
of Uniformitarianism because the same minute
changes that are occurring in the younger
generation previously appeared in the older
generation, yet these changes have not culminated
in the greater growth of the culture in which they
occurred thus supporting the slogan associated with
Uniformitarianism, that the present reveals the
methods of the past.
The principles of
Uniformitarianism are closely related to those of
gradualism and descent with modification.
Therefore it is possible to transpose Ice Cube’s
statement onto these methods of evolutionary
biology as well, placing emphasis on the common
tenet of each principle, that evolution is a gradual
process, in order to show the connectedness
between cultural and biological evolution.
10
Understanding that significant change
occurs gradually in both cultural and biological
evolution one may proceed to better understanding
the diversification of cultures based on the
evolutionary principle of descent with modification.
The diversification of culture is best represented in
the evolution of Rastafarian and reggae culture in
Jamaica in the sixties and seventies to the formation
of hip-hop culture in New York in the late seventies
and early eighties. Reggae culture, originally based
in Jamaica, grew as a surge of national pride in
response to years of civil war. The popularization
of reggae music and culture worldwide through the
music of Bob Marley and the Wailers played an
integral part in spurring the diversification of reggae
culture. In New York the oppressed minorities
living in the Bronx rapidly embraced the message of
Black-liberation and freedom that defined reggae
culture. However, a notable change occurred: in the
Bronx, the beats were sped up and looped
repeatedly, giving the same message a new sound.
This lead to what is now recognized as the birth of
hip-hop culture. One can see through this example
that it is the same catalyst, oppression by an unjust
majority, which led to the formation of both reggae
and hip-hop culture. The common catalyst that
sparked the development of these cultures is
comparable to the single common ancestor in
evolution’s descent with modification that spawns
descendents of different species.
In the development of evolutionary theory,
the principle of descent with modification makes up
a portion of the mechanism of Darwinian evolution
known as natural selection. Evolution by natural
selection states that heritable traits that lead to
survival and reproduction will spread in a
population. These heritable traits are also present in
culture as characteristics of society that allow the
community to grow and flourish. One such trait
appears in Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. When describing
the plight of Korean Americans in the late eighties,
their oppression by whites as well as by other
minorities, Chang writes, “When compared to
Korean Americans, African Americans are a
numerical and political majority. Ice Cube does not
realize that as a member of the majority, he wields
real power against the Koreans” (Chang 349).
Chang implies here that the position of any culture
as a majority can be correlated to a rise in power.
Chang’s statement indicates the importance of race
in determining a cultural majority. This trait, having
a high number of racially similar individuals,
controls many of the aspects of society that allow it
to thrive. The community that is a member of the
majority has a greater ability to control political,
business, and economic interests which often leads
to prosperity, thus promoting the preservation and
spread of the majority’s culture. Therefore the
culture that possesses the majority trait will be more
likely to succeed via increased political and
economic control and is thus also more likely to
“reproduce,” or in other words, exhibit significant
cultural expansion within a population.
In elucidating the role of natural selection in
cultural evolution one is able to better explain the
effect of location on the diversification of culture by
comparing it to the biological patterns of genetic
variation that exist across a geographic range. In
evolutionary biology genetic variation based on
location is often due to migration or different
selective pressures present within the population.
The same factors that effect genetic variation in a
specific geographic region also cause variation in
culture according to location. The dichotomy of east
and west coast rap existing simultaneously within
hip-hop culture is comparable to the evolutionary
concept of genetic variation across a geographic
range. The presence of different selective pressures
according to location plays a large part in both
cultural and genetic variation based on location.
Chang remarks that on the west coast the rap is
more “cartoony” and “raunchy” compared to the
more serious and violent rap style coming from east
coast rap groups. This variance within the same
culture is best explained by the presence of different
selective pressures according to location. New
York’s history as the birth place of hip-hop culture
and the city’s long history of riots and gang
violence place certain constraints on what form or
style of hip-hop will be accepted in the community.
More light-hearted lyrics are not as likely to be
warmly embraced by members of the hip-hop
culture in New York because the community cannot
easily relate to them. However, the opposite is true
if one observes the carefree beats originally made
on the west coast in Los Angeles. Hip-hop culture’s
presence on the west coast is significantly shorter
than on the east coast and is lacking the history of
11
gang violence and riots that hip-hop culture was
born into on the east coast. Therefore, the pressure
on west coast rap artists is to produce rhymes that
are more upbeat and direct unlike the sinister “damn
the man” raps of the east coast. Thus one can see
that the dichotomy of east and west coast hip-hop
culture corresponds to the homogenizing, creative,
and constraining forces associated with the
evolutionary concept of gene flow.
The final and most recent mechanism
developed in biological evolution, the theory of
punctuated equilibrium, successfully ties in the
principles of both gradualism and gene flow while
incorporating catastrophism and stasis to cultural
evolution. In culture there are notable periods of
artistic explosion, followed by peace, then by
violence.
Punctuated equilibrium is best
represented by this cycle of cultural change. The
growth of hip-hop culture in Los Angeles after the
race riots of the eighties depicts this cycle. Chang
chronicles these events quoting writer Odie
Hawkins as saying, “Watts, post outrage, was in a
heavy state of fermentation. Everybody was a poet,
a philosopher, an artist, or simply something exotic”
(Chang 310). Chang calls Watts a hotbed of
political and cultural activity during a time of new
beginnings. It is during times of “peace” that culture
is able to flourish. The cultural growth that the race
riots sparked in African American communities
surrounding Los Angeles also suggests that for
culture to evolve there must be periodic change that
often occurs during times of violence. Therefore,
when cultures do not have to worry about survival,
as in times after a battle has been fought, like the
L.A. riots, times of peace occur and encourage
cultural growth, but for growth to continue it is
necessary for the cycle to repeat itself and thus spur
the culture into periods of rapid development; this
cycle successfully mirrors the concept of punctuated
equilibrium.
By applying the basic principles of
biological evolution to the history of the growth and
development of hip-hop culture one is able to see
that just as the growth and changes of a biologically
defined population are best explained by the
principles of evolutionary theory such as gradualism,
natural selection, and punctuated equilibrium so can
the growth and development of a culture be
explained. The application of the mechanisms and
models of biological evolution to the evolution of
hip-hop culture suggests that like biological
evolution, the evolution of culture occurs through
the accumulation of changes over multiple
generations with periods of rapid change
punctuating the gradual development of the culture.
References
Chang, Jeff. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of
the Hip-Hop Generation. New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 2005.
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Panda's Thumb, chapter
17. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
Inc., 1980.
Stephanie Brennan, a rising senior from Remlap,
Alabama, is a double major in Biology and
Religious Studies. She is a second year intern in the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute's program for
undergraduate research and is currently studying
the phylogenetics of cryptic red algae; for her
research in this field she received the Randall
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award. A
student in the Blount Undergraduate Initiative,
Stephanie is also President of Tri-Beta Biological
Honor Society and is active as a Blackburn Fellow
and Arts & Sciences student ambassador.
12